


Chupamarinky

by Knightiss



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M, Rollor Skating Au, RvB Reverse Big Bang, normal life AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-05 05:56:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12788493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightiss/pseuds/Knightiss
Summary: Dick Simmons wants two things in his life right now. One is to finally be promoted, while the other is to get together with his best friend. Easier said than done.This story is part of the RvB Reverse Big Bang. Check out the artwork for this story done by the amazing Cyborg-Sabi on Tumblr.Links to Arthttps://cyborg-sabi.tumblr.com/post/167746947574/reverse-big-bang-time-this-go-round-my-writer-washttps://cyborg-sabi.tumblr.com/post/167746944669/reverse-big-bang-time-this-go-round-my-writer-washttps://cyborg-sabi.tumblr.com/post/167746939314/reverse-big-bang-time-this-go-round-my-writer





	Chupamarinky

Simmons wanted to know whose idea it was to make Thursday mornings kids only morning. Don’t get him wrong, he liked kids. But what he couldn’t stand was the parents. Poor Lopez was trying to fix the sound system to get the music running, but he had a group of dad’s nagging over his shoulder trying to tell him how to do his job. Luckily, Lopez had a lot of experience with nagging old men. But at least Sarge knew he was good at his job.  
Simmons was sure that Donut had it hard, working the snack bar. It looked like a scene from a zombie movie. The kids surrounded the snack bar, shouting and screaming. Some parents were complaining about the prices, or yelling at their sugar infused hell spawns. But Donut, being Donut, kept a wide smile on his face.  
Now, Simmons knew he was lucky. He just had to hand out skates. The most annoying part of that was people not knowing their right size, and the smell of shoes. Eventually everyone had the right size and the air freshener started working, Simmons just had to wait until one, when the he was attacked by people wanting their shoes back.  
“Simmons!” A loud, booming voice called from behind him. It was Sarge, the owner of Chumparinky and Simmons’ boss.  
“Oh, hello sir!”  
Sarge came over and slapped his hand on Simmons shoulders. “Now, Simmons. Donut told me you were coming to the match tonight.”  
Simmons fought to keep a groan in, he knew what was coming.  
“So, you wouldn’t mind working for a bit would ya? I mean, you are going to be here.”  
Simmons sighed. “Oh course not sir. I would be happy to.”  
Sarge slapped him hard on the back. “Great! I knew I could count on you Simmons! You’ll be working the snack bar! Now if you excuse me. I have to go listen to my stories.”  
Simmons wasn’t mad at Sarge. It was hard for him to keep employees, most of them didn’t share Simmons’ love of work. But Simmons had been looking forward to watching the roller derby Match tonight, and the snack bar was about as far from the rink as you could get. Maybe Sarge would finally promote him to assistant manager after this. He was racking 50 hours this week, and it was supposed to be a part time job.  
The day went on and soon enough parents were crowding him. These people didn’t seem to understand the concept of lines, but thanks to Simmons’ great organizing skills, it wasn’t long before everyone had what they needed. By the time all the skates were cleaned it was two in the afternoon and it was time to clean the rest of the rink.  
“Oh man. Today sure was insane wasn’t it Simmons?” Donut asked.  
“You’re telling me. Who’s idea was having kid’s morning?” Simmons responded.  
“It was that Gene fellow’s before he left!”  
“oh.” Simmons felt his hatred grow. “Well. Good. To. Know.”  
“Are you working tonight? Sarge asked me to but I have plans. I told him I you were going to be here though!”  
“Yup. I’ll be here. Stuck at the snack bar.”  
Donut flashed a large grin. “Well that’s not all bad. We both know a certain someone who will definitely be there.” He ended his sentence with a wink.  
Simmons felt his face heat up, when he tried to respond words wouldn’t form correctly. This only made Donut’s grin widen even more. “You know, when are you two just going to say you’re dating?”  
“But we aren’t?”  
Donut’s grin fell, and his eyes narrowed. “You two literally went on a date last night.”  
“We played video games with his sister.”  
“How close did you sit to each other?”  
Simmons said nothing but picked up the trash bags and left out the back door.

 

“COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!” Grif’s knuckles were white as they squeezed the edge of rink wall. Kai was a beast tonight. Slamming into the other blockers as they tried to get her jammer. It wouldn’t be long now, they just had a little more to go. “YOU GOT THIS KAI!” Her teammates were doing just as well. Katie Jensen was smaller, but she was fast as fuck. She was lapping the other team with ease. They had been practicing non stop the past week, and it showed. The team in the waits were screaming for ‘Slutty Kai’ and ‘Sweet n’ Sour’. They destroyed the opposing team.  
Watching his sister play really worked up Grif’s appetite, well everything worked up his appetite. Luckily the line for the snack bar was small, everyone was trying to leave before the parking lot got backed up. That was prime snack time. Standing with his back towards him was Simmons, who was currently trying to clean the tables. Grif smirked and quietly put his hand on Simmons’ shoulder and whispered “Boo.” Simmons jumped in the air and squealed loudly.  
“GRIF YOU ASSHOLE!” Simmons gave him a punch in the shoulder.  
“OW! GOD, IT WAS A JOKE!” He rubbed at his shoulder, but he was still laughing.  
“Whatever, what do you want?”  
“What makes you think I want something? Maybe I just came by to see you?”  
Simmons raised an eyebrow and just gave Grif a look.  
“Ha yea, Chili cheese fries.”  
“Thought so.” Simmons went behind the counter and started working. “You are going to pay this time right?”  
“Hey, I pay!”  
“No, you either ‘forget your wallet’ or promise that you will pay me or your sister back.”  
Grif frowned and pulled out his wallet. “Well jokes on you. And here I was going to invite you back over this weekend!”  
“Well maybe I had plans.”  
It was Grif’s turn to give Simmons a look.  
“I’ll be over at 7.” Said Simmons, slamming the fries on the counter.  
“Yeah, thought so.” Grif started to dig into the food.  
Remind me why I have a crush on this idiot? Simmons thought. “So, what are the three of us playing this time?”  
“Kai nom gomma me there.” Grif saidas he ate.  
“What?”  
Grif stopped to take a breath. “Kai’s not going to be there. She going on a weekend trip with the girls from the team.”  
Simmons eyes widened. “Oh. So, it will just be the two of us?”  
“No shit. I thought you were good at math.”  
Simmons didn’t respond, he just turned around and got back to cleaning. He needed to clear his head. It’s not like this was the first time they hung out alone, but that was out in public. This was at Grif’s house. This was different. Simmons wanted to say something, but his mind was drawing a blank. Luckily, Kai had come to the rescue.  
“DEX!” She jumped on her brother’s back. “What’d you think? Those bitches didn’t stand a chance!”  
“You were great, now get off.” Grif shrugged her off and she fell to the floor. She sighed, flopping on her back.  
“I’m so tired.” Kai whined. “I need food.” She suddenly rose and pointed at Simmons. “You. Make me food.”  
Simmons turned back around to glare at her. Nothing came out of his mouth however. He just glared.  
Kai frowned and looked up at her brother. “Make your boyfriend make me food.”  
Grif reached his hand out and pulled his sister off the floor. “Come on. We’ll get you food on the way home. See you this weekend Simmons.”  
“I still don’t get why you call each other by your last name.”  
“It’s a long story.”  
Simmons watched the two leave and felt his face heat up. _It's fine._ Simmons thought. _It's not like we've never hung out alone. It's just like that! Only, it's a private location._  
Simmons knew he was being stupid. They were just going to play video games. Something they did all of the time. Honestly, it would probably be better if the two of them played at their own places. Sharing screens was never fun, since Grif liked to cheat by looking at his. Well, it wasn’t always that bad. It was kind of cute when Grif lost after pulling those stunts, he could be so melodramatic.  
Simmons was pulled from his thoughts when his phone started to ring. It was Donut. “Hey, what is it?”  
“Cancel any planes you have this weekend!”  
“Um... why?”  
“Because Sarge just told me that we have the whole weekend off!”  
Simmons looked around and saw Sarge talking to Lopez. The two of them seemed to be angry about something. “Why?”  
“Well apparently the sound system for the whole place needs to be updated! So Sarge said we could have the weekend off as long as we went to Blue’s!”  
“Why would he want us to go the enemy’s place?”  
“I don’t know! But it’ll be nice to actually skate for once. Now I gotta go! I have to meet my furry anonymous group!”  
There was a click. Simmons walked over to where Sarge was standing. “Um, Sir? Donut just called me, is everything alright?”  
“No Simmons. Everything’s not alright. I just found out that no good Flowers just installed a state-of-the-art disco sound system! We can’t have that! We need to be sure that we have all the best stuff!’  
“But, isn’t it kinda last minute to close for the weekend?”  
“Simmons. You got to learn to take a risk for greater rewards! Now I need you three to go over there to spy on the Blues. I got to know what else they have going on. I can’t afford to lose people during prime skating season! Summer just started and those dang teenagers still want to go to Blues! Who knows, maybe after this I can finally make a choice on my new assistant manager !”  
“Yes sir!” Simmons said excitedly.

Grif didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be at his house playing video games, but when Simmons texted him, it was Kai who responded.  
Sure. She had said. Might be nice to actually skate for once.  
Grif knew he should have put a password on his phone, but it was always such a hassle to type in. Kai was real smug about it too. She practical skipped out of the kitchen with the largest grin on her face.  
“Guess who got you a better date for this weekend?”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Simmons needs to go spy on that other rink across town and you’re going with him.”  
”Ugh. Seriously?! Why couldn’t we have just hung out here!?”  
”Dex. Dating is more than just sitting on your ass playing video games!”  
“It’s been working fine until now! We had a good thing going!”  
“ Does Simmons know you consider these dates?”  
“Uh, of course... Why else would I invite him over?”  
Kai’s face fell flat and she smacked her forehead. “God, you’re an idiot.”

Grif saw Simmons and his roommate, Donut, standing at the door. We wouldn’t have a third wheel if we just played video games. He thought, walking up to the two of them. “Hey.” He said solemnly.  
“Hey Grif! Ready for a good pounding!” Donut said happily.  
“What?!”  
“You know, a pounding. Your ass getting pounded again and again.”  
“WHAT?!”  
“Because you don’t know how to skate, I remember Kai trying to teach you. You kept falling on your ass.”  
“Oh..”  
“Grif? You don’t know how to skate?” There was almost a snicker in Simmons’ voice.  
“IT’S FUCKING HARD!”  
“Don’t worry. Simmons can teach you!” Donut gave Simmons a punch on the arm. “Let’s go!”

  
“No.” The angry voice behind the counter grunted.  
“What do you mean no?”  
“I know why you’re here! Well I don’t know exactly, but you fuckers are here for something.”  
“God, Church, why are you such an asshole.” Simmons frowned. “This is a place of business, and we want to pay to use said business.”  
“Nope. Absolutely not.” Church said again.  
Before Grif was able to thank god, Blue’s owner appeared out of nowhere.  
“Now now, this young man has a wonderful point. Besides, there’s no reason we should treat them differently just because they work somewhere else. You boys are welcome here. And, Church, what did I say about cursing at the customers?”  
Church didn’t say anything he just crossed his arms and put his feet on the table.  
Flowers chuckled. “Oh Church. As dramatic as always. You three go on in, consider it an apology for my employee’s rude behavior.”  
Blue’s wasn’t that different from The Chupamarinky. In fact it looked almost exactly the same, at least structurally. The decorations were much more ‘youth friendly.’ They had vintage looking posters from newer movies, and they played music from this century. While the Chumparinky had a lot of old war posters and played music that wasn’t from this century.  
Another difference between the two was how crowded it was. Simmons knew what he needed to tell Sarge instantly, but he also knew he wouldn’t like the idea of changing his ‘perfectly’ designed building. Donut had already made that attempt.  
They got their skates and Donut was off. He started to zoom around the rink without a single care in the world. Simmons looked down at Grif, who was still messing around with his skates. “Hey, was Donut telling the truth?... About you not being able to skate I mean.”  
“I can skate. Just... Not good.”  
Simmons resisted the urge to correct Grif’s grammar. “Well, there’s only one way to get better. Come on.” Grif slowly stood up, shaking a bit as he steadied himself by grabbing onto Simmons’ shoulder. “Got it?”  
“Yea. I got it.” The two of them made it to the rink and slowly began rolling around. They stayed close to the edge, and without really realising it kept holding hands.  
Simmons thought Grif didn’t give himself enough credit, he was doing pretty well. Though his skating technique was unique. He used the front brakes as a way to push off and gain speed. But it worked, so Simmons left it.  
“Okay. This is... kinda fun.” Grif admitted.  
“Yeah, you’re doing great. Donut was kinda an ass earlier.”  
“Well, that was a while ago. When you two were a ‘couple’.”  
“Ha, yeah. That was a time.”  
“Why’d the two of you break up?”  
Simmons face kinda heated up from embarrassment. “We didn’t date that long. If you even call it dating. Donut said he didn’t think he was the right guy for me.”  
“Well. Made room for me I guess.”  
Simmons stopped moving and Grif had to grab the edge of the rink to save himself from falling. “Simmons. What the fuck I’m not the best at stopping.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I mean I. Can’t. Stop. Good.”  
“No, I mean the ‘make room for me’ thing!”  
“Well. You know.”  
“KNOW WHAT?”  
“Oh my god Kai was right.”  
Before the situation went from awkward to even more awkward a small child shouted. “BLARG!” And crashed into Simmons, who crashed into Grif, then all three of them hit the floor.  
“WHAT THE FUCK?” A voice was heard. “DON’T YOU ASSHOLES KNOW THAT YOU SHOULDN’T STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF A RINK!?”  
“Grif! Simmons are you okay?!” Donut skated over quickly. “Oh Heeeeeyyyyy Tucker.”  
Simmons rolled off of Grif, shaking away the blush as he looked up to see Tucker holding his crying kid. He looked pissed. “Look, happy for you guys. Really. But I’m trying to work, and Junior just wants to hang out. So if you are going to do the sappy couple shit do it somewhere else. Come on Junior, You can hang out in the Dj booth with dad.”  
Simmons got up and felt a sharp sting on his knee. Looking down he saw some blood and redness. “Oh. Fuck.”  
“Ow. Shit. You okay Simmons?” Grif asked.  
“Yeah, I just need a band-aid.”  
The three of them left the rink and headed towards the arcade. Simmons sat down, pulling out his portable first aid kit.  
“Are you good?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine. Donut, could you give us a minute?”  
Donut left, looking worried. Grif sat down, seeming just as nervous as Donut. “Sooooooo… I’m guessing we are in different places?”  
Simmons sighed. “I mean I think we are. I wasn’t sure.”  
“Okay. We can fix this... Simmons. Do you want to go on a date?”  
“What? I mean uhh.”  
“Dude, just say yes and we’ll play arcade games as our ‘first date’ it will be romantic as fuck.”  
“Yeeeeeesss?”  
“Fucking sweet.”  
The two of them spent most of their left over time in the arcade. It was fun, and competitive, Simmons even tried to cheat when they were playing air hockey. Not that it worked. Before they left, they went around the rink a few more times and Simmons realized Donut had snuck out at some point and he was left without a ride home.  
“I can’t believe Donut took your car.”  
“I can.” Simmons checked his phone and the only message from Donut was three car emojis, a heart, kiss, and four 100% emojis. “Can you give me a ride?”  
“Sure thing.”  
The car ride was pretty quiet. It wasn’t until they made it to Simmons’ apartment that Grif broke the silence. “So. Are we a thing?”  
“YOU CAN’T JUST BRING THAT UP OUT OF NOWHERE!” Simmons voice cracked as he spoke.  
“Dude. I like you. I like to think you like me back. So... why the fuck not?”  
“It’s just. Well. I mean.”  
"Can I kiss you?"  
Simmons' entire brain froze, he couldn't speak, but eventually he was able to nod. When he did, Grif leaned forward just barely pressing their lips together. It could have been a second or an eternity before he pulled away, but Simmons still wanted to kiss Grif. He tried to keep their lips together, only to be stopped by the damn child lock on his seatbelt.  
“You talk too much. You know that right?”  
Simmons covered his face. “I know.”  
“So are we a thing?”  
Simmons sighed, but smiled, “Yeah we’re a thing.”  
Grif threw his hands up in victory. “Fuck yes! No more awkward bullshit!”  
“I highly doubt that.”  
Simmons waved goodbye as Grif drove off. His heart was still racing and he felt jittery. When he finally made it to his apartment he was tackled into a hug by Donut. “I SAW EVERYTHING! IT FINALLY HAPPENED! IT FINALLY HAPPENED! I KNEW IT! I KNEW PAYING JUNIOR AND DITCHING YOU WOULD PUT SOMETHING IN MOTION!”  
“I fucking knew it.” Simmons pushed Donut away from him. “Wait. You paid a kid to crash into us?”  
“It was Tucker’s idea!”  
“Was everyone wanting this!?”  
“I mean… Yes.” Donut said bluntly with a huge grin on his face. “Soooo. What happened!? I saw but I couldn’t hear! I’m dying here!”  
“Why should I tell you?”  
Donut grasped dramatically. “Simmons please.”  
“I’m going to bed.”  
“SIMMONS PLEASE! I NEED TO KNOW!”  
But Simmons shut his bedroom door with a shit eating grin on his face.

Kai was jumping up and down on her hotel bed. “What’s got you so happy?” asked Volleyball.  
“My stupid brother finally did it!”  
“He asked out Mr.Simmons!?” Katie asked with excitement.  
“YEP! AND WAIT DID I SAY ABOUT CALLING THAT NERD MISTER?”  
“Sorry.”  
Katie had worked at the rink before joining the team. Simmons was her ‘mentor’ and she respected him a lot, since she was kind of lonely person before she joined. One day Sarge, who was also the coach of the ‘Red Roller Bitches’, saw how fast she was and fired her. Only for him to immediately offer her a spot on the team. She found out later that Simmons was the one who pointed it out to him.  
“It's about time.” Volleyball said. “So, who won?”  
“Lemme check.” Jenson pulled out her phone,looking for the spreadsheet she made. “It seems Tucker won the pot.”  
“FUCK!” Kai jumped one last time and fellcross legged with her arms crossed in anger.  
“I told you your bet was too far away.”  
“My brother’s an idiot when it comes to relationships! He always just assumes shit!”  
“Like someone else we know.” Volleyball giggled, before Kai smacked her in the head with a pillow.

  
Sarge wasn’t happy with Simmons’ report, but he knew if he wanted the younger crowd he had to appeal to them. A few weeks later Sarge finally caved in and gave his boys a budget. Donut was so happy he looked like he was ready to explode. Some of the girls even came in Monday morning to help with the new decorations. Sarge looked at the item in his hand. There was one more thing he had to do if he wanted to improve his business.  
“Simmons! Get off of Fatass’ shoulders and come over here!”  
Simmons was balancing on Grif’s shoulders, trying to rig LED lights around all the doorways. He carefully climbed down and Grif plopped his butt on the ground for a break. Simmons rushed over to his boss with a smile on his face. “What is it, sir?”  
“So... Donut told me you’re thinking about going back to college after summer?”  
Simmons frowned, he wished Donut knew how to keep things to himself. “Yes, sir. I was thinking about it.”  
“That’s good.”  
Simmons was surprised. “Oh, uh, thank you sir.”  
“Now. I get that you will be busy. So I decided that I need to do something to make sure you still wanna stick around. So here.” Sarge handed over the item in his hand and  
Simmons’ eyes widened. It was a name tag that said Simmons and underneath it read Ass.Manger.  
“Thank you sir!”  
“Now don’t get too cocky. I’m still expecting you to be here every damn weekend! AND IF I SEE ONE GRADE BELOW A C I WILL TAKE THAT BACK!”  
Simmons saluted his boss. “It won’t happen, sir! Thank you, sir!”  
“Good... now get back to work.”  
Simmons rushed away with a bigger smaller than before. “Lopez, stop giving me the side eye.” Sarge grumbled.

  
Grif tried to keep it in. He really did. But he couldn’t do it. His boyfriend was so happy, he didn’t want to ruin for him. But at the same time he really did. “Ass Manger. He made you Ass Manger!” Grif broke out laughing.  
“It stands for assistant manager and you know it!”  
Grif was practically howling. “ASS MANGER!”  
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”  
“What’s going on guys?” Kai asked, walking over. “Who’s an ass manger?”  
“SIMMONS! SHOW HER!”  
“Sarge made me assistant manager.” Simmons beammed, proudly showing her his new name tag.  
She yanked it from his hand,immediately pinning it to his shirt and whipping out his phone. “Come on! Let’s get a picture with the ass manger!”  
“What? nooo!”  
Grif squeezed into the photo and put Simmons’ arm around his shoulder. “Guys please.”  
Donut appeared out of nowhere and smiled for the photo. Simmons sighed in defeat. He forced a smile and held up a peace sign, letting Kai take her photo. Luckily Donut covered the name tag, and Kai didn’t notice before she posted the picture everywhere imaginable.  
Everyone went back to work afterwards, but Grif sat back down at a table. “Seriously though. Good for you Simmons... You deserve it.”  
“Thanks. Grif.”  
“So, what are you going to school for? Make up your mind yet?”  
“Not really. I’m torn between IT or business.”  
“Hmmm.”  
“What?”  
“Nothin... I was just thinking. Maybe I should take some classes at the community college. Kai’s been trying to convince me to do it forever and he’s been doing great in her event planning classes.”  
“Wow? Really?”  
“Yeah. I don’t know... Still thinking it over.”  
“Well, if you want my opinion, I think you should go. But, I mean, it’s your choice in the end.”  
“Thanks. Dick.”  
“I thought we both agreed that you would never call me by my first name.”  
“Did we? I don’t seem to remember that Dick? Remind me Dick? When did I agree not to call you Dick?”  
“I’m not going to encourage this.”  
“Come on Dick, talk to me.”  
“Nope. Fuck this.” Simmons got up and walked away.  
“DIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK! I LOVE YOU!!!!!”  
“FUCK OFF FATASS!”

\---

Grif and Sarge stared each other down. Neither said anything. “So. You want to try and work here again?”  
“Yup.”  
“And Why the fuck should I do that?”  
“Because your best blocker said she’d go play for the Blue Blossoms if you don’t.”  
Sarge gritted his teeth. “Here! But this is your last chance!” He threw one of the god awful referee T-shirts in his face. “And the same rules I gave to Donut and Simmons apply to you to. Your grades get too low, you don’t get to work.”  
“Wow. You do have a heart.”  
“Get out of here!”

Simmons was nervously waiting at his apartment. Once Grif decided to try some business classes, Simmons managed to convince him to talk Sarge into rehiring him.That was how they met. Grif had worked there for a week only to quit as soon as Sarge told him to clean the popcorn machine. Luckily he still showed up for his sister all the time.  
It wasn’t the best job in the world. But Grif would be able to afford school thanks to his short work in the army, and Simmons had managed to score a few scholarships for himself. However, there was still the problem of the house.  
Donut and Simmons knew they wouldn’t be able to afford the apartment for much longer. Luckily, as soon as they found out, Grif and Kai invited them to crash at their place. It was closer to both college and the rink. Plus, it was a house. Left to them by their mom when she ran off the join the circus.  
Simmons stood up and went back to packing. He need to distract himself. Grif offered a spare room in the basement, and while there would be a whole floor between them; they would be living together. Simmons was packing his 5th maroon shirt in a box when his phone rang. It wasn’t a number he knew, so he let it ring. They didn’t leave a message, but they did ring again. So Simmons, against his better judgement, answered.  
“Hello, This is-”  
“Simmons!” A gruff voice shouted, “Why the hell didn’t you answer the first time?”  
“Sarge? What phone are you using? I don’t recognize the number.”  
“I’m using the hospital phone.”  
“THE HOSPITAL PHONE!?”  
“Relax Simmons. Everything’s fine, Fatass just broke his arm.”  
“IS HE OKAY!?” Simmons ran to the front door and started putting on his shoes.  
“I just said everythings fine!”  
Simmons grabbed his car keys and started running down the stairs. “Does his sister know?”  
“...... Huh. I should probably call her too?”  
“YES! Wait, NO! I’ll do it!”  
After saying goodbye Simmons called Kai while trying not to break the speed limit. She had about the same reaction he did. He picked her up and the two of them rushed to the hospital, but by the time they got there, thanks to shitty traffic, Grif was already signed out. The Hawaiian looked extremely tired from the pain medicine. According to Sarge, Grif was ‘screwing around’ on the skates and fell down. According to Grif, who was a little out of it, Sarge was making him test all the skates that were his size. One of the skate’s wheels were loose and made him trip.  
Whatever the reason, Kai and Simmons were just happy he was safe. Simmons took the two of them home and Grif went straight to his room to crash.  
“Well. While your here, you might as well check out your place.” Kai said.  
The two of them headed to the basement and it was nicer than Simmons had pictured it. All the walls were concrete, so Donut might have a heart attack, but there was a lot of space. “Why didn’t you guys ever do anything down here?”  
“I used to skate down here when I was a kid, though after mom left we never really cared to come down here. We tried renting it out to some people, but it never really worked out.”  
There were two rooms. The larger one looked like it used to be a playroom, while the other had a bunch of boxes in it. “We’re going to move those to a storage place before you guys move in. It’s mom’s old stuff.”  
“Grif doesn’t really mention her that often.”  
“Well. She ditched us the moment I turned 18... I mean, sure, it was a nice circus, but we never knew our dad, and Grif wasn’t really that close with her to begin with. She never really was a mom anyway.”  
Simmons didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t want to compare his own life to hers. It wasn’t his place. It seemed like Kai didn’t want to continue the conversation either. “I’m going to go see if Dex needs anything. You can hang out for a while.”  
And Simmons did. Eventually he went to check on Grif himself. He was passed out on a queen sized bed, his long messy hair spread all over the pillow.  
“Grif?” Simmons lightly tapped his good side. “Grif?” All Simmons got was a groan. “Alright. I’ll just tell Kai that you would love pineapple on your pizza.”  
Grif rose like a vampire coming out of a coffin, looked Simmons dead in the eye and said. “Don’t you fucking dare.”  
Simmons chuckled and sat on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”  
“Better than before I guess. It doesn’t hurt as much.”  
“Good.”  
“Yeah...”  
There was a brief period of silence, while Simmons hesitated, tapping his fingers on the edge of Grif’s bed. Simmons wanted to kiss him. But he didn't want to seem clingy.Grif sighed loudly and said “You know what?.” And kissed Simmons suddenly.  
“What was that for?”  
“Think of it as a thank you for paying for the pizza.”  
“I didn’t say I was paying for the pizza.”  
Grif flopped back onto his bed dramatically. “Oh Simmons. It’s back. The pain is back!”  
“Grif.”  
“I mean, I just injured myself. It would make me feel soooo much better if I could have a meat lovers pizza with cheesy, stuffed, flavored crust with extra bacon. I mean... I think I could even make it out of bed for that.”  
“Griiiiif.”  
Grif put his good arm over his face. “But I guess I'll just have to stay here in pain. And with an empty stomach... Knowing that my boyfriend, who I just lovingly kissed when he was too lame to do it, won’t even give me the gift of pizza.”  
“And you say I hang out with Donut to much. I’ll get you a fucking pizza if you promise never to act like that again.”  
“I will make no such promises.”  
Simmons just rolled his eyes and left the room. Grif followed after shortly. Donut burst through the door the moment Simmons’ hung up the phone. “WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME!? OH GRIF! ARE YOU ALIVE?”  
“Oh right. I forgot to tell Donut.”  
“WE LIVE TOGETHER!” he shrieked.  
After Grif confirmed that he was alive. Donut whipped out a pink sharpie and sighed the cast excitedly. He then proceed to take out various colored of sharpies for everyone else to sign with. Simmons chose maroon tried to scribble out his name and a heart before anyone noticed.  
“Can you believe you’re going back to school?!” Donut asked, “I can’t wait to see you guys all the time.”  
“I can.” Grif joked, causing Simmons to hit him. “Ow, don’t break my other arm, babe.”  
“Don’t call me that.” Simmons said with a pouty face.  
Kai laughed, snagging a yellow marker to sign her big bro’s cast with. “You’re gonna have to be careful Simmons, the girls are going to be all over Dex.”  
Donut laughed at Kai’s bad joke, but Simmons just shook his head. Finally the pizza arrived and Simmons stepped outside to take a deep breath. His life certainly was changing for the better.  
“Hey.” Grif had followed him out.  
“Hey.”  
“So, you doing better now?”  
“Yeah, I was just freaked out. I mean. I know we’ve only dated for like… a day, but I didn’t like seeing you hurt.”  
“Dude, to be fair, it’s only you who thinks we’ve just started dating.”  
“I guess you're right about that.”  
Grif sat on a patch of grass and patted the spot beside him, watching the sunset. “Come on.”  
Simmons settled in beside him. The Texas sun was fading slowly. It was a nice sight.  
“Hey Simmons.”  
“Yeah?”  
“You ever wonder why we’re here?”  
Simmons laid his head on Grif’s shoulder. “I know why I’m here.”  
Grif smiled and put his arm around Simmons. “Yeah... I think I do too.”


End file.
